After I wrote my recent article on “Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and its interpretation,” I found a series of articles on the kingdom, written by Robert Milligan and published in the Millenial Harbinger of 1858. That the reader may see that the positions set forth in my article are neither new nor fanciful, I quote some extracts from Bro. Milligan’s articles. Concerning the establishment of the kingdom foretold in Daniel’s interpretation of the dream, Mr. Milligan says:
The prophet limits the chronology of the event to “The days of these kings.” But who are they? When did they reign? What was the beginning, the duration, the end of their administration?
Many writers on prophecy, and even some of our own brethren, for whose opinions we entertain very great respect, refer all this to the future. They suppose by “_these kings_” are meant the ten kingdoms into which the Roman Empire was divided, and which they suppose were symbolized by the ten toes of the image.... But with all due respect for these good brethren, we are constrained to dissent from such an interpretation of the passage. To us there appear to lie against it many objections, some of which are the following:
1. The notion that the toes of the image were designed to represent the ten fragments of the Western Roman Empire is a mere hypothesis. It may possibly be true; but certain it is that the evidence is wanting.... But ten toes on one foot would be rather incongruous.
2. But even if it could be satisfactorily shown that the ten toes were designed to represent the fragments of the ten kingdoms that arose out of the Western Empire, it would by no means follow that these are identical with the kings named in the text. The reverse of this is certainly true. The limiting adjective, “_these_,” implies that the subject to which it refers had been clearly designated.... But the only kings fairly implied in the whole connection are those of the four universal monarchies....
From these premises we infer that the phrase, “_these kings_,” has no reference to the monarchs of modern Europe. Nor does it, as some have supposed, refer exclusively to the Caesars. These are not in this connection made the subject of a distinct prophecy. The phrase evidently refers to all the rulers of the four universal monarchies, and comprehends the kings of Babylon, and Persia, and Macedonia, as well as those of Rome.